Our Dream Rig

We think we have found our dream RV! We went to the RV show at the Pomona Fairplex this week. There were so many RVs and trailers, with just about any option you could dream up. Many of them were nicer than our house! We found one that we all fell in love with. We have not driven it yet, so we are not 100% sure. The interior space has just about everything we want...There is a king size craftmatic bed, no cheesy RV mattress here. There are bunk beds with drawers underneath, as well as a full sized bed over the cab with it's own sunroof! That was a huge hit with the girls. It has a washer dryer option and comes with a bathroom and a half. There also appears to be plenty of storage. Another feature that was a big hit with the girls was the number of TVs the RV comes with, there are 5! Although anyone who know me knows I am not big on TV. Oh, and did I mention...it looks very cool! It is called the Supernova "Grand Hotel" 6400.

On the down side, the dinette table appeared to be very wobbley and there was no oven. Since it is out of our original price range, it may be a while before you see us pull up in it. :)

Makin' jam

Yesterday we made jam for the first time! We received several pounds of peaches. Rather than have them go bad, we decided to try our hand at jam. It turned out rather well and we had a great time! As a matter of fact, we have already eaten a jar and a half. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I found an awesome website with recipes, and even pictures: www.pickyourown.org. Since we have picked close to 50 lbs of apples, we plan to try apple butter next.

Thomas Jefferson Education

A couple of years ago, another home schooling mom told me about a book called “A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century” by Oliver Van DeMille. I was interested enough to purchase the book, however I actually never got around to reading it. I finally read it this week. I find the concept behind this method of teaching to be very intriguing. The basic concept is to raise future leaders through the use of the classics and mentor, as opposed to what the author refers to as “conveyor belt” education. After reading this book, I believe that this method would produce a well rounded, educated student. I am planning on researching this a bit more. If you are home schooling or planning to, this may be something to look into. Here are some resources: http://www.gw.edu/
http://www.tjed.org

The Princess and the Peas, as told by Kaelyn Ortega

Once upon a time there was a princess who was sleeping on lots of mattresses and she felt a pea, so she climbed down the ladder. Then she looked under all the mattresses and she found the pea, so she ate it. Then the servant came and said, "Where is that pea?". The princess told him that it was nice and safe in her tummy. So the servant put another pea under the mattresses, but the princess ate that one too. So the servant put another pea under the mattresses, than another and another, but the princess ate them all, until she grew very fat. Finally, the peas got stuck in her throat, and the princess died.

What kind of Vegeterian are you?

My mother is suffering from high cholesterol and is on a very strict diet. The day we celebrated Skylar's baptism/birthday, she asked me for a veggie burger. I pulled out a box of Boca frozen veggie patties, ready to prepare her one. "What is that?" she asked. "Mom, this is a vegetarian hamburger," I replied. She proceeded to ask me for a turkey burger. I apologized and told her I didn't have any. Mom was really upset by this. "What kind of vegetarian are you anyway?!" she fumed, as she walked away. My mother is the best...lol

Bark in the Park

Yesterday was "Bark in the Park" here in Lancaster. This is a fundraising event. We had been looking forward to it all week, deciding to take only three of the dogs. We opted to leave Sunny, our drop eared papillion and Emily, one of the chihuahuas her at home. Sunny does not always do well with other dogs, and crowds make Emily nervous. We took Triton, Elliot and Benji. Triton is a chihuahua with a very sweet disposition, Elliot is a yorkie-maltese mix and Benji is a mixed breed. We groomed them and had them all looking gorgeous for their outing. Unfortunately, the weather turned out to be cold with some rain, and Haley and Skylar were both sick. The girls were heartbroken at the prospect of missing Bark in the Park, so we went for an hour. We were impressed by the love and care so many owners lavished on their little friends. We also found several cool products for our own little ones. All the proceeds go to benefit our local shelter. There were representatives from various Rescue organizations. It is too bad we couldn't spend more time there, but there is always next year!

Christopher's 19th Birthday

Kaelyn

I lost my camera a couple of weeks ago. I was not surprised to find that Kaelyn had gotten a hold of it....Although most of pictures she took were of her feet, here is her first attempt at a self portrait...

Skylar's Big Day

Skylar was baptized just a couple of weeks ago, right after her eighth birthday.Skylar was baptized just a couple of weeks ago. We celebrated the big day with a combination birthday/baptism bash. The highlight of our horse themed party were the pony rides. We passed out cowboy hats and bandannas to all of our guests. Many of our friends and family shared this special day with us. It was a perfect party for a horse crazy little girl.

Back at the daily grind

We have not posted to this blog in some time! We had a pretty uneventful summer, trying to get caught up on our home schooling. I also trained for a new client. In light of recent developments here in California regarding home schooling, I have decided to be a little less relaxed in my attitude towards it. Also, being part of a charter school, we must comply with their regulations. So, we are really hitting the books. However, there is no reason school has to be routine or boring. After all, part of the reason we do this is so that learning can be an exciting and enjoyable experience for the girls. I do wish that I could unschool Haley. I do feel that she would do much better and have much more fun.Unfortunately, this is not an option for us right now. I hope that this will someday change. In the meantime, we love home schooling. I found some terrific books called the "Grandmother's Hope Chest" series. They are sweet old-fashioned stories, which include a kit to teach hand stitching. They are suitable for younger children. My soon to be five year old can do these kits. Here is the link: http://www.hopechestlegacy.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=75_97&zenid=6250342b66af5b69132061270680920e. As most of you know, we don't have cable. I don't believe in parking the kids in front of the TV and letting them veg out on mindless dribble. So, once it starts getting dark early, I try to find activities or crafts that will be fun and that we can enjoy all together. We are also starting our bimonthly outings again. With the high price of gas, (and everything else) We are going to have to get creative with our outings. Our first outing was organized by CAVA. We went to Knaus Ranch in Techachipi for an afternoon of Apple picking. We had an awesome time, and picked about 16 lbs of Apples. They were so good, that we have already gone through half of them! before leaving Tehachipi, we stopped at a local ranch, The owner was kind enough to let us see his Buffalo. We saw real American Bison up close, as well as Brahma cattle and Watusi cattle. We were particularly fascinated by the Watusi, with their incredibly long horns.